Reply to tell me about colleges that didn't make your kid's list

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I found it interesting how visits really impacted DD's opinions on the midwestern SLACs.

Going in, her preferences were:

Carleton, reach;  Oberlin & Macalester, targets, Wooster, likely/safety

After visits:

Carleton, reach;  Kenyon & Macalester, targets; Kalamazoo & St. Olaf, likelies/safeties

We had talked with her extensively about needing to find a likely that she loves that would also be a financial safety (we need aid to afford the SLACs she wants).  On paper, Wooster sounded 100%--she loved the focus on student research, they offer great merit aid, she had talked with a student on the phone ahead of time and was really enthused.  I liked it , but she found the campus a bit too remote and it just didn't connect with her anymore. She said she just felt "blah" about it. (I think she may have built it up too much in her mind).
Meanwhile, Kenyon, which is even more remote, surprisingly rose to the top based on her tour of the campus, discussions with students, she just really loved it.  So I don't really see how the remoteness of Wooster was the real issue.

Conversely, Oberlin. She originally had it as a top target, on paper she's a great fit (loves music, STEM major) but decided it would be a fantastic school for several of her friends, but not for her.  Not sure why.

Kalamazoo, however, we just visited because it was mid-point on a 5 hour drive between Detroit and Chicago. But she loved it-- the study abroad options, internships, the people and the campus and town and now it's her top "likely" (and one which they gave her an estimate of merit aid based on her scores and it would be very affordable).

Similarly, St. Olaf--visited because we were in the area.  She said that she had never felt so peaceful in a school before, it fit with her music interests and that everyone was nice without being boring (and again likely great merit aid).

So, Wooster and Oberlin fell off the list and Kenyon, Kalamazoo, and St. Olaf came on the list--for hard to pinpoint reasons, but more "feelings."  Just glad she's figuring things out.  Also very glad we opted to go to colleges we happened to be nearby on trips![/quote]
We loved St. Olaf too! Wasn't even on the radar screen for dd, but we were in Northfield to tour Carleton and thought we might as well look while we were there. It is on her list now![/quote]

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